Lea+Elliott is seeking a junior to mid-level planner with an interest in transit and a background in LEED to be based in Northern Virginia either at our regional office at Dulles Airport or at a project office.  Work assignments will include transit projects throughout the eastern United States.  Under guidance and supervision, duties may include:

• Serving as a liaison between design reviewers and other planners to ensure that the teams are kept aware of relevant project issues.
• Assisting in the evaluation of contractor’s management plans and providing comments on design documents as part of the design review process.
• Serving as LEED Coordinator on one or more transit projects
• Representing client in meetings with project contractors.
• Ensuring compliance of contractors with applicable local, state, and federal regulations, primarily environmental.
• Assistance with property acquisition activities and locality coordination as needed.

Qualifications:

• Degree in Urban Planning (specialty in Transportation or Environmental) or Transportation Engineering. Masters degree preferred.
• At least 2-4 years of full-time relevant planning and/or project experience including involvement in at least one LEED project.
• Proficiency in navigating architectural and engineering drawings and specifications.
• Excellent writing skills.
• LEED Green Associate accreditation required, and candidate must demonstrate ability to become LEED AP accredited within one year if not already accredited.
• AICP certification or the ability to obtain same is desired but not required.
• Experience with FTA, State, or local transportation planning and environmental processes a plus
• Technological aptitude including comfort with Microsoft Office.
• Willingness to be open to new work responsibilities.

Please respond to jobopenings@leaelliott.com with cover letter and resume.

The slide deck from EMBARQ’s recent webinar on parking & transit oriented development (TOD).

If you have not already doing it, highly recommend following EMBARQ’s slideshare channel. You can regularly see such informative material made available.

Here is a quick summary of  the what, why, who and when:

During April 24th-26th, I was in Chattanooga, Tennessee attending the 5th Annual Vanguard Conference, an experiential urban leadership gathering of 40 of the best and brightest urban leaders under 40, hosted by the national non-profit media organization Next City.  Mind you, I’m probably the least accomplished of this excellent group of 40 promising leaders, all of them working to improve cities across sectors, including urban planning, community development, entrepreneurship, government, transportation, sustainability, design, art and media. We convened in Chattanooga for a three-day series of presentations, workshops and neighborhood tours. The Vanguard conference will culminate in the Chattanooga Challenge, an ideas competition sponsored by the Footprint Foundation and designed to jump-start civic local innovation through a $10,000 grant for the winning proposal.

Here are a handful of observations from this conference:

• In a nutshell, it was a life altering experience. I got to learn so many issues associated with urban development, such as housing and economic issues, while further understanding the linkages and the crucial role of transportation systems in building a better urban environment.

Image Courtesy: metrojacksonville,com

• Met some of the best and brightest in the country and was in awe from the time I arrived till I left the city (even now I’m in awe of how much knowledge was exchanged and free flowing in that setting).

Image Courtesy: metrojacksonville.com

• When you adopt an unconference format, discussions flow freely and people are at ease to share their ideas. Moral of the story: do not host events featuring powerpoint presentations.  The conversations were engaging, stimulating and at times downright wild (particularly those conversations over the beers and coffees were excellent).

Image Courtesy: Metrojacksonville.com

Image Courtesy: metrojacksonville.com. A lot of beverages consumed and tons of knowledge exchanged.

image courtesy: metrojacksonville.com. Did I tell you it was wild and fun?

Image courtesy: metrojacksonville.com. Opening night party on the premises of the Aquarium building.

• People in the government at local levels work together and even when they work together to solve problems they are constrained by institutional biases and money shortfall.  The city owns a strategic piece of digital infrastructure – Chattanooga offers the fastest Internet connections in America through the city-owned fiber-optic network.
• City of Chattanooga is a great place and certain parts of it, like in most urban areas, has bad things going on.   As part of the Vanguard Conference’s Chattanooga Challenge, we were all divided into four groups and sent to explore different corners of the the city (East, West, North and South) by foot, bikes and transit.  I was part of the walking tour (Team West) that hit the West side and got to see up close the economic disparities that exist on either side of a major elevated highway (U.S. 27) that literally bifurcates the communities more details on the West Side tour in a different bullet below).

Image Courtesy: metrojacksonville.com. Team West, posing for a picture, moment before announced as Winners of the $10k Chattanooga Challenge.

• City of Chattanooga has a great bikeshare system, fantastic aquarium and an excellent set of touristy things like the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel (pictured below), great restaurants and watering holes across the town.

Image Courtesy: Metrojacksonville.com. Click image to see an entire set of image from a fellow Vanguard, Ennis Davis at Metro Jacksonville

• The city’s low-income residents, particularly those in the West side neighborhoods such as College Hill courts, are somewhat caught in a bad situation. These communities, slated for redevelopment within a decade or so, live quite close to the economic heart of the city. But they do not have a meaningful direct access where they can walk to their jobs and they are cut off by a major thorough fare. This has resulted in poverty and the usual accompaniments of crime and lack of education.  I was part of the Team West in the Chattanooga Challenge that visited these communities and pitched a strong proposal to connect the divided communities.  Our team, bolstered by three strong local young leaders, gained very illuminating insights that helped  us understand the situation at hand.  We suggested that the City of Chattanooga offer free Wi-Fi service to a public housing community on the city’s west side and develop a new pathway to connect the city’s downtown to the highway-marooned neighborhood.  I’m borrowing the narrative from Next City to explain how this is laid out: Right now, area residents, (shown in image below total population of 2481 with a median income of $9277) many of whom are children and downtown workers commuting from public housing developments to school or jobs in other parts of the city, must trek by foot on a dirt path and across highway ramps to reach the city’s center. Where the path enters their neighborhood, residents must pass through a hole in a chain-link fence.  Our teammate Marlon Brown, a city councilman from Mason, Michigan put it succinctly “the neighborhood is physically divided from the downtown at the same time as it is digitally divided from opportunities there. You have to remember, a city is only as strong as its least connected neighborhood. ” These next two images below came from our teammate John Bilderback, who quickly generated them to show how this community  is strategically located and yet remains far removed from better opportunities. What’s better – our winning idea will get a $10,000 boost from the local Footprint Foundation and the City will get to implement the proposal. And the local newspaper did an excellent article covering our winning proposal.  Yay!

• 

  Image Courtesy: John Builderback. Picture1 – Westside – Where the Resources are.

•  Last but not least I got to ride a bicycle after almost 15 years.  I am a regular transit user living in Washington, DC metropolitan area, where we are blessed with better transportation alternatives and a fantatistic world-class bikesharing system.  But I never had a reason to ride a bike because of my living and commuting options. Thanks to Chatanooga and my fellow Vanguards, I got to commandeer a bicycle one afternoon. It was a lot of fun and I reached my destination without embarrassing myself and an exciting story to tell (yeah, our group got yelled at by an older gentleman in a pickup for occupying a full lane on a main thoroughfare).  Sadly, despite the presence of a bikeshare system in the city, the number of bicyclists on the city streets were relatively low.

• 

  Image courtesy: http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/. Click image to see an entire set of image from a fellow Vanguard, Ennis Davis at Metro Jacksonville

Image Courtesy: Metrojacksonville.com

MTA-NYCT is hiring a Principal Transportation Planner in the Operations Planning Division. Applications are due by May 5, 2014.

The position will be responsible for helping to plan long-term changes to the NYC bus route network.  The incumbent will develop and maintain a database of service and ridership information for planning purposes, prepare reports recommending new or restructured bus routes and services, including ridership projections, customer and operations impacts, and operating costs.  The position may also assist in the analysis and management of various long-range planning studies, such as Alternatives Analyses and Environmental Impact Statements and coordination with other NYCT departments, other MTA agencies, and external contacts.  The successful candidate is expected to do field work throughout New York City and to represent NYC Transit at public meeting, sometimes not during normal business hours.  A NYS driver’s license is required for this position.

Education & Experience:

Bachelors degree in Engineering, Urban Studies, Geography, Transportation Science, Urban Planning, Economics, Business, Public Administration, Political Science or related field and five years of full time paid experience in transportation operations planning, schedule or operations.

Desired Skills:

Excellent writing, communication and graphics presentation skills, proficiency in technical writing and data analysis are required.  Knowledge of the New York City Transit system and New York City are highly desirable.  Previous experience in transportation planning for a large, multimodal transit agency is highly desirable.  Knowledge of transportation planning software such as TransCad, ArcView, MapInfo and Auto-Turn.

Apply here or search listings at http://web.mta.info/mta/employment/employment_out.html

via YPTransportation

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• Mta Plans To Reduce Subway Deaths 2013
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• MTA NYC Goes Digital

The Northeast Corridor Commission

Congress created the Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Operations Advisory Commission (Commission) to help coordinate planning and investment across all owners of and operators on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) railroad network, including Amtrak, states, commuter railroads, and freight railroads. The Commission is comprised of representatives from each of the NEC states, Amtrak, and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), with non-voting representatives from freight railroads and states with connecting corridors. The Commission is supported by a full-time staff in Washington, DC. The Commission is accepting applications for a Transportation Analyst position located in Washington, DC.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Summary of Duties

Specific responsibilities will consist of policy research and writing, transportation planning and analysis, analysis of financial and operational data related to the allocation of operating and capital costs in the NEC, development of Commission products and materials, website content development and other tasks as assigned. The position will cover activities both technical and administrative in nature:

• Assist in the development of Commission reports and presentations through data analysis and the development of written material. Work will frequently involve making technical information accessible for non-technical audiences.
• Assist in the coordination of the Commission’s many stakeholders, including Amtrak, the U.S. DOT, the Northeast states and state DOTs, commuter rail agencies, freight railroads, and others. Work will frequently involve coordinating assistance provided by staff at various stakeholder agencies.
• Support the organization and delivery of quarterly Commission meetings and periodic committee meetings including the management of pre-meeting logistics, the development of meeting materials, and the preparation of meeting minutes.
• Assist in the analysis of financial and operational data in support of the Commission’s role in supporting cost allocation in the Northeast Corridor.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Transportation, Public Policy, Urban and Regional Planning, Economics, Business, or related field.
• One to two years of work experience with some direct experience in the field of transportation. Masters degree may substitute for work experience.
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills.
• Interest in transportation issues.
• Ability to multi-task effectively while remaining flexible in a fast-paced environment and work collaboratively with staff at all levels while successfully challenging conventional practices and incorporating new approaches.
• Demonstrated skill in Microsoft Office tools, including Access, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.

Contact

For information on applying, contact Donnie Maley, Director, Planning: dmaley@nec-commission.com.

Job Title: Planner II

Closing Date/Time: Mon. 10/21/13 5:00 PM Pacific Time

Salary: $4,223.25 – $6,015.00 Monthly ($50,679.00 – $72,180.00 Annually)

Job Type: Non-Union Regular Full-Time

Location: 710 NE Holladay, Portland, Oregon

Responsibilities
Provide planning programming and implementation support associated with TriMet’s service capital planning and scheduling programs. Conduct research and technical analysis, field investigation and documentation. Lead internal and external projects with stakeholders.

Provide coordination between TriMet and government agencies and participation in programs, plans and projects. Understand and reflect in all planning and conceptual design efforts the safety and operational needs of TriMet services.

Ensure a commitment to safety through consistent and professional behaviors in performance of job requirements that demonstrate safety is a fundamental value that guides all aspects of our work. Perform related work as required.

Essential Functions:

1. Assist in the conception, development and implementation of a variety of transit service planning projects and activities; work with jurisdictional representatives in developing and implementing plans and projects consistent with departmental objectives. Perform related research, data collection and analysis.

2. Provide support and analysis for service planning and scheduling, especially annual service plan, quarterly service changes and new service development.

3. Under general supervision, develop and manage project contracts and grants. Assign work to contractors, monitor contractor performance, document deficiencies in performance, communicate with the contractor and assure contract compliance with contract specifications.

4. Support TriMet capital, service policy and agency planning with proactive project management including the public, stakeholders and other jurisdictions.

5. Perform analysis, prepare documentation, formulate solutions to operations problems and write reports as assigned.

6. Stay abreast of new techniques in transportation planning, project management and computerized technical analysis.

7. Work with citizens, interest groups and representatives from other governmental agencies on transit planning projects.

8. Prepare draft transit plans and programs for implementation.

9. Conduct analysis and tasks to support new capital projects, service planning and jurisdictional planning and coordination activities.

10. Prepare maps and other analysis and presentation documentation, using GIS, Excel, and other computer-based tools.

Position Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in City or Urban Planning, Engineering, Business, Systems Analysis, Public Administration or a related field.

Two years of experience in Planning or a similar field. Related work experience in transportation planning and operations may substitute for education requirement on a year-to-year basis.

Or any equivalent combination of experience and training.

Selection Criteria:

1. Knowledge of principles and practices of transit, planning principles, operations and analysis.

2. Knowledge of project planning management techniques.

3. Intermediate skills with Word, Excel, Outlook, Access, database applications and other software applications. Project management, graphics, GIS application experience desirable. Demonstrated proficiency to accurately keyboard (type).

3. Ability to communicate effectively in oral, written and graphic form.

4. Ability to lead tasks and manage consultants contracts on time and on budget.

5. Ability to prioritize work and effectively coordinate the work of others.

6. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with employees, management and the general public, including those from culturally diverse backgrounds, the elderly, persons with disabilities and/or other vulnerable populations.

7. Ability to produce clear technical as well as public documents.

8. Ability to research a variety of data sources for analysis that leads to a conclusion, recommendation and/or report.

9. Ability to focus on essentials of tasks and produce focused and timely results.

10. Ability to work productively and cooperatively with divergent groups within and outside the agency.

Click here to learn more and apply

• Job Type: Full time
• Start Date: – n/a –
• Salary: 75-100k
• Location: US – Maryland – Montgomery County
• Job Reference: 11686-Grade J

Description

The Montgomery County Planning Department of the Maryland- National Capital Park and Planning Commission is seeking an experienced supervisor with extensive local government planning experience to lead and manage the day-to-day activities of transportation planning policies.

Examples of Important Duties:
The successful candidate will lead the formation of the County’s transportation planning policies. The transportation coordinator will work with the Department’s travel forcasting team and multi – modal transportation staff to develop an overall approach to transportation to serve Montgomery County into the future. Requirements specific to the transportation policy coordinator position include:

1. Applied knowledge of multi – modes of transportation system mobility policies and current planning trends.

2. Ability to work with local, regional and state agencies to formulate appropriate policies for the Montgomery County Planning Board.

3. Familiarity with all forms of transit and roadway capacity issues and the practices of similar jurisdictions throughout the US and Internationally.

4. Demonstrated ability to work with internal staff and decision – makers to formulate practical policies that move local governments from suburban to a more urbanized transportation network.

Minimum Qualifications:
Master’s degree in Transportation Planning or Transportation Engineering and a minimum of six years of progressively responsible experience.

Click here to learn more and to apply.

(Source: via YPTransportation.org)

Associate Project Manager/Senior Associate

NelsonNygaard Consulting Associates (NN) seeks a highly organized, independent, forward-thinking professional for its newly formed Washington, DC office. The selected individual will play a key role in the firm’s growing multi-modal practice. This is an outstanding opportunity for the right person to become involved in the continued growth and service of one of the nation’s most innovative transportation planning firms.

NelsonNygaard has a long history of sustainable planning for livable, and successful, communities. NN’s work emphasizes quality, creative transit/transportation planning that addresses wider community goals such as economic growth, social equity, strong communities, environmental and energy conservation, and quality places. NelsonNygaard was established with an emphasis on transit service planning and system design, but has since become a national leader in multi-modal transportation planning and engineering.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will work as part of a small professional team focusing on transit and multimodal transportation planning, policy development and/or design. The position requires quality work and individual initiative. Candidates must bring demonstrated technical experience in the transportation, design, or policy fields as well as excellent visual, written and oral communication skills. The individual will have the opportunity to assume key roles in project management, marketing and business development.

Specific expectations of the position include the ability to:

• Function as a project manager for small projects and lead planner for complex components of large projects.

• Organize, conduct and supervise data collection activities in the office and in the field

• Analyze public transit, parking, and multi-modal travel data including models, surveys, and operational plans

• Prepare quality technical reports and recommendations

• Frame and conduct independent research

• Track and work within budgets and assist senior managers with project delivery

• Formulate strategies for and assist with community outreach activities

Though most of the work will come from projects on the East Coast, there will be numerous opportunities for the candidate to contribute to NN projects across the United States and internationally. Candidates must be willing to travel (on average 2-4 overnight stays per month plus numerous day trips) and must have a valid Driver’s License.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate should have at least five years of increasingly responsible experience in a broad cross-section of transportation, urban planning, or engineering. Private sector consulting experience is highly desired but is not a requirement. Minority candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. A Master’s Degree in planning or engineering is preferred, however candidates holding a Bachelor’s degree with at least two additional years of direct work experience may be considered.

Potential candidates must have demonstrated problem solving skills and be able to perform detailed technical analysis and feasibility studies with proven expertise in at least two of the following areas:

• Transportation master planning

• Transit/shuttle planning and operations

• Transit facility planning

• Bike/pedestrian planning

• Site planning in urban environments

• Transit Oriented Development

• Transportation Demand Management

• Parking Management

• Multi-modal circulation studies

• Corridor planning and design

• Policy research and development

• State or regional planning

• Transportation performance management (including return on investment) and evaluation

Salary and Benefits

All employees are paid an hourly rate. The annual salary range equivalent for this position is $70,000 to $85,000, depending on qualifications. Benefits include fully paid health and dental insurance, a 401K/profit-sharing program and Paid Time Off (PTO).

Please send cover letter and resume to jobs@nelsonnygard.com by March 18, 2013, with the subject line DC Associate Project Manager/Senior Associate.

Foursquare Integrated Transportation Planning (Foursquare ITP) is looking for a qualified Transportation Planner or Senior Transportation Planner / Project Manager to contribute to, assist, lead, and/or manage teams on a diverse array of transportation projects for state and local governments, primarily in the Washington DC Metropolitan Region. Resumes are due this Friday, June 29.

Position Description

In addition to work with state and local governments, this position will also be committed half-time to a transportation planning contract with the Washington Headquarters Services (WHS) division of the Department of Defense, providing subject matter expertise in planning and implementing transit and transportation demand management programs at the Pentagon and Mark Center. In addition to the WHS contract this position will potentially contribute to on-going efforts that include heavy rail station environmental analysis, TDM plan development, performance measurement, TIGER grant management, long-range transit analysis and planning, transit development plans, and transit capital and operations planning.

Depending on the level of experience of the selected candidate, the position will be designated as a Transportation Planner or Senior Transportation Planner / Project Manager (STP/PM).

The selected candidate will work as part of a team and will be responsible for research, analysis, report development, field work and meeting participation on a wide variety of transportation projects. The selected candidate will be involved in transit development plans, transportation needs assessments, station area plans, transit route planning, financial planning, and transit performance monitoring. The position will require research and data analysis utilizing a variety of sources, including transit ridership data, survey data, and existing plan information. It will require excellent communication skills, both written and oral.

If the selected candidate is a STP/PM, he or she will serve in two capacities depending on the project. As a project manager, the STP/PM will lead project teams of transportation planners to deliver high quality solutions to Foursquare ITP’s clients in a timely manner, within the scope and budget of the assignment. In addition to leading project teams, the STP/PM will conduct some of the work involved in the assignments as well as overseeing the quality of the work of the rest of the project team. The STP/PM will be responsible for the client relationship as well as the coordination with any prime consultants or sub-consultants with whom the project is being executed

In some cases, the PM/STP will serve in a senior transportation planner role, where he/she will accomplish project assignments under the direction of another PM. In this position the candidate will also be expected to contribute to business development including proposal writing and presentations.

Experience

5-15 years of relevant experience with a Masters in transportation planning, urban planning, or similar substitutable for some of those years. Topical area expertise in transit planning; transit program implementation; corridor-level multimodal planning; regional transportation planning; transit development plans; short and long-range transportation plans; transportation demand management (TDM); Environmental Impact Statements/Environmental Assessments; Land Use and Economic Development; and Strategic Planning. A strong working knowledge of the Washington Metropolitan area is required.

About Foursquare ITP

Foursquare Integrated Transportation Planning is a transportation planning, design and policy analysis firm based in Rockville, Maryland. As a small firm, we are able to give our clients the personalized attention that they seek and deserve. Foursquare ITP focuses on projects that relate to sustainable transportation, primarily in the area of public transit. We offer our clients expertise in regional transportation planning and coordination, public transit planning, strategic planning, and transportation demand management. More information is available at www.foursquareitp.com

Foursquare ITP is a small, growing business and the successful applicant must be a motivated self-starter who is passionate about transportation planning, transit, and transportation demand management. He or she must also be flexible to meet client demands and a dynamic workflow. All qualified applicants must live in or be willing to move to the Washington DC metropolitan area, and must be available for work starting no later than August 6. Due to a rapid ramp up on the work for WHS, resumes will only be accepted through this Friday June 29.

Please send resumes or questions about the position to Lora Byala at lbyala@foursquareitp.com.

This is a good opportunity for students/emerging professionals who are interested in these issues.  See http://ecpaplanning.org/2011/01/ecpa-call-for-essays-from-emergin-professionals/ for full details.